The Pisse waterfall
Cascade de la Pisse
Cascade de la Pisse - Xavier_and_Caroline - Parc national des Ecrins
Valjouffrey

The Pisse waterfall

Fauna
Flora
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This family trail is a chance to admire the untamed mountains in complete safety and to feel all the force of the natural elements.

After crossing the village and the meadows surrounded with rocks, the route is adorned with unruly waterfalls. The valley dug out of the crystalline mountains (granite and gneiss) forms the "U" shape characterising landscapes shaped by glaciers.


Description

From the car park at the entrance of Le Désert-en-Valjouffrey, cross the village, heading east. Cut across the GR 54, by crossing the stream of La Laisse - it leads to the left to Côte Belle and to the right to Col de la Vaurze. Follow the wide path alongside the meadow and along the right bank of La Bonne, leading you to the entrance of the Ecrins National Park (information panel). When you arrive at the Pisse waterfall, come back along the same route. To continue, take a look at the route to the Font Turbat refuge.
  • Departure : Le-Désert-en-Valjouffrey, Valjouffrey
  • Towns crossed : Valjouffrey

8 points of interest

  • Le Désert en Valjouffrey (1280 m.) et les Marmes
    Le Désert en Valjouffrey (1280 m.) et les Marmes - PNE - Collection Tron Lucien
    History

    The Désert-en-Valjouffrey

    No sand or barren lands, the name of Desert comes from the word "essarter" which means to clear the land of forest in order to produce a clearing. Forest clearing was necessary for the implementation and the development of agriculture in the mountains... Nowadays, the Desert is one of the only hamlets at altitude which is inhabited all year round in spite of the harsh mountain climate.

  • Know-how

    Hay Fields

    The hayfields where the grass is mown have been improved over the generations by the extraction of stones which have then been stacked in piles which are known locally as “clapiers”. These piles of stones mark the boundaries between the crops and the flocks. 

  • Pouillot véloce
    Pouillot véloce - PNE - Saulay Pascal
    Fauna

    Common Chiffchaff

    A bird that you hear but do not see, the Common Chiffchaff nicknamed the "écu counter”. Its song, which is very easy to identify, evokes the sound of gold coins falling one by one in to the cash register as they are counted. Green-brown and greyish on top, its feathers are off white underneath, beige on the chest with a barely visible pale brow.

  • Le vallon de Font Turbat
    Le vallon de Font Turbat - PNE - Nicollet Bernard
    Geology and geography

    Glacial valley

    The high valley of Bonne, or Font Turbat, is a typical glacial valley in the form of a trough with morainic bars marking the stages of the retreat of the glacier. The lower shelves or glacial shoulders are suspended above the trough 500 to 600 m in size of which the steep sides dominate the layers of scree and the alluvial fans (mass of debris transported by the water It finishes upstream by a vast cirque at the imposing foot of the rocky wall of theOlan (3 564 m), hemmed in at its foot by the Maye black glacier. At the time of the last glaciation  of Würm, 10 000  years ago , the two glaciers of Font Turbat and Maye joined together and fed into a powerful glacial tongue in the Bonne valley. It formed the valley in to the shape of a basin by scraping and polishing rocky walls in the granite. The lowest moraines, masses of rocky debris transported by the glaciers are situated around Châtellerat cabin.

  • Joubarbe à toile d'araignée
    Joubarbe à toile d'araignée - PNE - Warluzelle Olivier
    Flora

    Cob web House Leek

    Thick leaves organized in tight rosettes shoot up towards the sky twists of white hairs  which are quite similar to  the traps woven by certain spiders. Not less competitive than the rhododendrons, The Cobweb House Leek is adapted to resist drought. The main rosette and the smaller shoots well grouped together; make a real water reserve which is then marvelously stocked by the fleshy leaves... It also develops many kinds of hairs that collect the dew.

  • Rhododendron ferrugineux
    Rhododendron ferrugineux - PNE - Vincent Dominique
    Flora

    Rhododendron

    Nicknamed the rose of the devil, the rhododendron ferrugineum has the capacity of placing itself between the rocks and boulders where the soil is rare. It keeps its stiff leaves which are dark green and shiny and rust coloured underneath right through the winter. It gets its name from this rust colour. Every year, between the end of July and the beginning of August its branches are crowned with bouquets of flowers coloured rose and purple.

  • Grand Apollon
    Grand Apollon - PNE - Combrisson Damien
    Fauna

    Apollo

    A big white butterfly with black and red markings is not shy; the Apollo is easy to see between the middle of June until the end of July... It lays its eggs on the White Stonecrop, a perennial plant with white flowers living on scree and gravel... The male Apollo is born before the female and waits patiently to procreate. It is to be noted that it benefits from national protection; its transport and destruction are forbidden.

  • Cincle plongeur au printemps dans un torrent
    Cincle plongeur au printemps dans un torrent - PNE - Chevalier Robert
    Fauna

    White-throated Dipper

    Easier to observe than the Common Chiffchaff, the White-throated Dipper lives beside rivers and mountain torrents... A little red and grey bird, with a short tail, it has a fine beak, a white mark on the chin and on the chest. This astonishing sparrow has the particularity of being able to walk under the water against the current in search of food. It flattens itself down and grips on to the bottom with its claws, opens its eyes, which are protected from the flow by a fine membrane and spots worms, larvae, little crustaceans and fish.


Forecast


Altimetric profile


Sensitive areas

Along your trek, you will go through sensitive areas related to the presence of a specific species or environment. In these areas, an appropriate behaviour allows to contribute to their preservation. For detailed information, specific forms are accessible for each area.

Alpine ibex

Impacted practices:
Aerial, , Land, Vertical
Sensitivity periods:
JunJulAugSep
Contact:
Parc National des Écrins
Julien Charron
julien.charron@ecrins-parcnational.fr

Recommandations

In summer, it can get very hot on the path (sunscreen, hats and water are essential, especially for children)

Herd protection dogs

In mountain pastures, protection dogs are there to protect the herds from predators (wolves, etc.).

When I hike I adapt my behavior by going around the herd and pausing for the dog to identify me.

Find out more about the actions to adopt with the article "Protection dogs: a context and actions to adopt".
Tell us about your meeting by answering this survey.
Is in the midst of the park
The national park is an unrestricted natural area but subjected to regulations which must be known by all visitors.


Information desks

Maison du Parc du Valbonnais

Place du Docteur Eyraud, 38740 Entraigues

http://www.ecrins-parcnational.fr/valbonnais@ecrins-parcnational.fr04 76 30 20 61

Reception, information, temporary exhibition room, reading room and video-projection on demand. Shop: products and works of the Park. Free admission. All animations of the Park are free unless otherwise stated.

Find out more

Transport

No transport services to the start of the trail.


Access and parking

From Entraigues, take the D117 to the village of Le Désert-en-Valjouffrey

Parking :

Entrance to the village of Le Désert-en-Valjoufrey

Accessibility

Joelette
Wheelchair
Accessibility level
:
Experimented
Emergency number :
114

Source

Parc national des Ecrinshttps://www.ecrins-parcnational.fr

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